I wake up early in the morning, alone in the bed. I hear the water running from the bathroom. I snuggle the covers closer to myself. I blush at thought of my naked body under the covers. I have to close my eyes and smile when the memories and sensations of last night came to mind. I hear him walk back into the room, carefully getting back into bed with me. This time he wore boxers. I fell asleep again with my head in his neck.
Another month went by without any incidents, a few missions every week, and soon the test for my mastery of wood came. I have been at my limit these past weeks, training and going on missions, my muscles were beginning to feel the soreness, which hasn’t happened in almost a year. I knew that today was going to come, I ate breakfast with Kakashi before Tomoko summoned me to Shikkotsu Forest.
“Great to see you are rested and ready to go. This test is going to be challenging,” Tomoko tells me. I was feeling nervous, what kind of test did Sage Moriko set for me. I follow her to the dense forest east of hometree. I rub my hand on my pants, I didn’t realize I was nervous and sweating already. I could feel the Sage’s chakra before I saw her, I was more in tune out here in the middle of the forest. I can feel the living trees surrounding me, wood style brought many new senses to me.
“Good Morning Kiyoko. Ready for your test?” Sage Moriko asks me. I swallow and nod.
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
“I will test your mastery of wood style by a dual. You will battle me for your final exam,” She says. Of course, I was a fool to think that she would ask me to perform a single jutsus. I’ll have to use all of my jutsus to defeat her.
“There are three rules. You can only use wood style of course, no water or earth style, but you can use your tools. Do not damage the hometree. That is off limits.And this is not a battle to the death, if you some how manage to win, I will stop the battle before I am beaten to a pulp,” She smiles, tryon to make it into a laughing matter. I didn’t laugh, fighting wasn’t a joke, its not for entertainment. I just want to show her that I have mastered wood style, and I am ready to begin sage training.
“Alright, now that the rules are set, lets begin our battle,” Sage Moriko says in all seriousness. I gulp and focus my mind. Wood style is about flexibility and stability. I have to use my terrain to win this battle, but Sage Moriko also has the even ground. She knows this forest better than anyone.
Sage Moriko attacks first, coming at me with full force of hotei technique, the large hand comes at me. I use the underground roots technique. The roots from all of the trees around us come up from the ground under the control of my chakra. They restrain the wooden arm and tie it closely to the ground. I manage to keep it down, and Sage Moriko tries to gather some footing. Thanks to the uneven ground that that the roots have created she was having some difficulty.
I use the roots to take her off guard. I try to grab her limbs or some part of the body, but she slashes them away with her own wooden roots. I had to use more chakra to make them stronger than her’s. I create a wooden clone, and it throws wooden spears at her. I grab hold of her ankle and push her down to the ground. I think I have the upperhand in this battle at the moment, but I feel roots of her own wrapping rapidly up my leg. I am forced to stop. I absorb the life quickly, and use my shadow clone to keep any roots from touching me again. I create another wooden clone. I have more chakra than her, I can multiply to any number from one to a five thousand. I have to be confident that I will win, otherwise, I won’t graduate this material. Sage Moriko creates her own wooden clone, it blocked the wooden spears that my clone threw at her. I separate and leave my clones in front of her. I hope she won’t notice me slipping deeper into the forest. I disperse my chakra, trying to blend into the trees. I slip in and out of them as I run along the battle of clones versus Sage Moriko. For now she hasn’t noticed. I weave my hands and create a net-like wall in front of Sage Moriko. It comes up quickly, and I thought she would moving too fast to react, but she that isn’t what stopped her. I have created a layer of chakra around my wall, she can’t fuse with it like any wood style. She can’t find the key to my chakra pattern. Its the perfect tool.
Sage Moriko falls back, realizing I have figured out a way to stop her. Anything I envelope my chakra with, she won’t be able to pass it through her. I don’t believe she can absorb my chakra either, mine is too strong for her body to take, just like wood style is too strong for just anybody to have.
She finally turns to face me, in the depth of the forest. The trees around me bend, and make a clear path towards me. I create another wall to obscure my presence. I feel her chakra jumping through the branches, her plan must be to jump over the wall instead of going through it. I can still go through it, I slip into the wooden net wall and leave a clone in place. It had a great forest technique ready for her. The chakra level were perfect. She won’t be able to tell I am in the wall. My layer of chakra hides me from her.
Sage Moriko lands in front of the wall, my clone attacks her, she takes a step back, and finally she’s close enough to grab. My branches from the wall extend and wrap around her body. I keep my grip on the roots, and create some to keep her hands away from one another, she can’t seal anymore signs. I see her try to absorb the chakra or slip through the wall, but my chakra isn’t compatible with her. Its strong, like she has tested, but it is also one of a kind.
She laughs.
“I can’t believe it. I was beaten in such a short amount of time. I thought this would at least go on for a few hours, but its barely half an hour. I really wasn’t much of a fight. Your chakra, well that was a wall I can’t get through. No one will be able to get out of your jutsus,” She smiles.
“Great job. You pass, you know how to use your jutsus, and your surroundings. I’m proud you’ve actually been taking my boring lessons seriously. If you can beat a sage, I’m sure you are at kage level already. You are incredible,” Tomoko tells me, she sat on top of my wall. I passed! And I won against Sage Moriko, I didn’t even use all of my jutsus in this fight. It was a simple strategy.
“I am so out of combat, I haven’t had a battle in decades. Now can I be released, so I can send you back home. It is the holidays, and I’m sure you would like to spend your time with Kakashi rather than here,” Sage Moriko asks. I let her go, and she rolls her shoulders.
I smile, feeling a swell of pride come over me. After a year of hard work I finally mastered Wood style. Tomoko waves and Sage Moriko sends me back home. I arrive back in Kakashi and I’s bedroom. The snow was falling lightly, I hear Kakashi in the shower. We planned to go find a christmas tree later today when I got back from my test.
I was tempted to go in there and tell him about the great news, but I felt too flushed to even make a step in that direction. Christmas was four days away, and I already had presents for friends. The only one I needed to get was Kakashi’s, Kurenai was helping me with that one. I wait for Kakashi in the kitchen, I drank a glass of water and grabbed my clothes for a shower too.
“Kiyoko, you’re back?” I hear him say.
“Ya, I just got back a few minutes ago,” I tell him. Kakashi walks into the kitchen, shirtless and maskless. I want to scold him, he might get sick in this weather, but I didn’t mind taking care of him if he did.
“How did it go? Did you pass your test?”
“Ya, I did! I had to battle her, and I won. Its still hard to believe I did it,” I tell Kakashi. He smiles, and hugs me. I feel myself get warmer, when I feel his hard chest against my soft one.
“I knew you could do anything. That is incredible, I’m proud.”
“Let me shower, so we can go get us our christmas tree,” I tell him, and force myself to pull away from him. He nods, and goes to put on a shirt. I take a quick shower, I was excited to get a tree, I’ve never really celebrated christmas, much of the holidays I’ve always been on my own, but now I have Kakashi. I wrap my scarf around my neck and tug on my shoes before I lock the door and follow Kakashi down the stairs. I couldn’t stop smiling, today has just been great, this is all I have ever wanted. I felt truly happy. I see Kakashi blow warm air into his hands, he forgot to put on his gloves. I take my left glove off, and grab his hand. I put it on, and bravely grab his hand and hold it inside his jacket pocket. I smile when he squeezes my hand. Now he won’t be too cold.
“Thank you,” He says. I haven’t held Kakashi’s hand in public before, well not in the day, so I was a bit self conscious of it. We’ve held hands in haste, but we were walking at our pace, and people can see us now. Children were out and about, playing with one another after school. Throwing snowballs at one another.
“You know Kakashi I can always make a Christmas tree for us,” I whisper into his ear.
“I know, but it take out the whole experience of going looking for one. It was one of my favorite things to do with my dad when I was younger. The excitement you feel when you find the right tree. You’re going to love it, I know you will,” He says. I nod, I was looking forward to it.
“Kakashi-sensei, Kiyoko!” Sakura yells from a far. I see her with her winter clothes, beside her are Sai, Ino and Hinata. I haven’t seen Hinata in such a long time, I feel bad for not being around too much. I try to pull my hand out of Kakashi’s pocket, but Kakashi holds on tight. I look up, and see a smile on his face. He didn’t care if they saw us holding hands. He wants them to know we are together, we have been for months.
“Where are you two heading?” Ino asks us.
“We’re going out to pick our tree for the holidays. Where are you three going?” I ask them.
“We’re going to meet our teams out in the field. We decided to have a snowball fight, we always do around this time of the year. Except this year Naruto isn’t here,” Hinata says. I smile, I wish I had friends to do that with, but I’m glad they are enjoying themselves. Lady Tsunade decided to call off the missions for the chunin around the holidays, if there were real emergencies us jounin would have to deal with it, but I’m hoping there aren’t any missions in need of attention.
“I was going to invite you two, but you guys look busy. Well we have to get going, bye Kakashi-sensei, bye Kiyoko.” They wave good bye and walk towards the training field. Kakashi and I walk outside the walls for a bit before we come across the first of the pine trees. It couldn’t be too big, but I didn’t want a small tree either.
“How about that one?” I point to a medium tree to my right. Kakashi and I get closer to it, but from a close distance it looks old and bare.
“It won’t last four more days without it’s roots.”
We continue to walk around in the deep snow. I let go of Kakashi’s hand, and take a snow in my hands. I smirk, I make the snow into a ball, it stung my warm palm.
“How about this one, Ki-” Kakashi begins to say, but I throw the snowball at his face.
“You’ve started a war you didn’t want to begin,” He says. I see him gather some snow, but I take some cover behind a tree. I see the snowball crash into the trunk, and I had another one in my hand by then. I risk it and step around my hideout, and throw it to Kakashi. It lands and hits his shoulder. I feel one land on my stomach, even through my clothes I can feel the coldness. He slams onto a tree, he falls on his back, and a sheet of snow from a branch above falls on him. I laugh when I see him struggling to get up. I let go of my snowball and go over to help him. I grab his hand, but he vanishes in a puff. He was a shadow clone, I turn around a feel a snowball come into contact with my face.
“Hey that is not fair! I thought we weren’t using ninjutsu,” I told him and wipe the snow out off my face. Kakashi laughed, coming over and wiping some snow with his scarf.
“I never said that. But if you’d like you are the winner of this battle. I found the perfect tree though. Come here,” Kakashi takes my hands and we go over to the deeper part of the pine tree forest. He was right, it was a short tree compared to the others around it, but it looked healthy and green.
“Its perfect. I think I can cut it down, and keep it from dying so quickly,” I tell him. I can use wood style to cut away at the correct ends. I separate the truck from the roots, and soon it fell to the ground.
“How are we going to get it back to the apartment?” I ask him.
“I’ll have my dogs pull it for us,” Kakashi says. He summons Pakku and a few other bigger dogs. They manage to haul it to our doorsteps, before they were panting. I grab them bowls of water and thank them for their service. Kakashi and I put the tree in a stump holder and put it on the corner of the living room. All we needed were decorations. We head to the stores, I bought ornaments for the tree, and a few more to hand around the house. Kakashi bought white, and colorful lights.
“I can’t wait to see the house glimmer in these light. It will look beautiful,” I tell him. I put the red sphere on the branches.
“Kiyoko turn around,” I hear Kakashi say. I turn around, and I see a flash. He bought a camera! The photo comes out of the slot. He waves it around for it to dry quickly. I walk over and see the picture of me, turning around with a smile on my face, and a beautiful tree behind me.
“When did you get it?”
“Just now. I want to keep up with the memories, so when I’m old and forgetting I don’t forget these moments,” He says with a smile. I grab the camera, and get closer to Kakashi. I turn it around and snap a picture of us. Kakashi’s face in the picture was hilarious, he wasn’t prepared, but it was priceless.
“I think it time to put the lights on the tree,” I tell him. He pulls them out of the bag and begins to put it on the tree. I snap a few pictures, before I realize he was confused on how to put them up. Maybe its been a while since he’s had a christmas. I help him, laughing when he trips over the lights. I don’t think I have ever laughed so much in one day. By dinner time, we have decorated the living room, and it looked ready for a holiday. The christmas tree was bright and red. I hung a wreath outside on the front door. We hanged a few extra lights around the living room. Now all that was left was to put a few presents underneath the tree, and bake a few christmas treats. I take a few of the wrapped boxes from my bedroom and put them under the tree. I have most of the gifts in boxes already, all I needed was to head out to Kurenai’s apartment and grab a few things for Kakashi’s present.
“This apartment has never looked so bright,” he whispers and puts his arm around my shoulder. I lean my head on his shoulder. He was right, it looked warm and bright.
“I’ve never told you how grateful I am of having you. My life is better now that you are around,” He looks down at me.
“And hectic,” I remind him. He kisses my nose. I kiss his neck, thanking him for saying such kind words, but not only that I believed him.
Eri invited us to dinner at her house, for once Kakashi didn’t whine about eating with Rokuro. I think they have out their differences behind. We walk in the late evening, I tug my jacket close, it felt like the world was a big ice cube. I see their house, in the distance, Eri has also decorated for the holidays. There were colorful lights hanging around their front porch, and there was a wreath on her front door too. I knock the door, and see Rokuro answer it. We step into the warmth and close the cold wind outside. I take my coat off and put my outer clothing on the coat rack. I see little Rin laying in the crib in the corner of the living room. She looked at the lighting on the ceiling.
“Kiyoko, Kakashi, so glad you two could make it,” Eri comes out of the kitchen with an apron tied around her waist. She had gained some weight after the baby but she was in a healthy shape.
“I wouldn’t miss your cooking. Plus I wanted to see Rin. Do you mind if I hold her for a bit,” I ask her.
“Go ahead, just don't bounce her too much, I just fed her,” Eri says and returns to the kitchen. Dinner was almost ready she said.
I make sure my hands aren’t cold and go over to Rin. She was much more active and aware of her surroundings. Her eyes were focused on the lights, and her hands were grabbing the air like she could reach them. I carefully grabbed her, resting her head on my forearm. She wore red and white, a little christmas holiday outfit. She was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Rin grabs a handful of my hair and pulls. She had a strong arm for a baby, she’ll be a strong shinobi in the future.
“Careful, she loves pulling hair,” Rokuro says.
“I’m aware of that now.”
Kakashi helps me get my hair out of her fists, and pull it back from her reach. She opened her mouth and let out a small squeal.
“I’m sorry but that hurts,” I tell her. She reaches again for my hair, she was intelligent, Rin acts like a child already. Its almost been two months since she was born and she’s grown so much already. I let Kakashi hold her too, I could tell he wanted to.
“She’s growing up quickly,” I say.
“Ya she is. When I get back from missions I can tell that she getting bigger and more aware of who everyone is. She’s a mommy’s girl though. She only lets Eri bathe her, if I do it she cries the entire time,” Rokuro says.
“Its not that, its just that you don’t know how to hold her while you wash her,” Eri says from the kitchen.
“Um, Eri, Rokuro I think she just pooped,” Kakashi says. His face was scrunched.
“We have a rule around here. Who ever is holding her while she goes has to change her,” Eri says.
“No way! Come on, I am not changing her diaper, she’s your baby,” Kakashi whines. He gets closer to Rokuro, but he smiles and crosses his arm.
“Sorry but I’m busy finishing dinner,” Eri tells him. He finally looks at me, the despair in his eyes was funny. He looked like changing a diaper was torture. I sigh, “fine, I’ll do it, but you are helping me.”
“Everything is in our bedroom, I’m sure you two know how to change a diaper, it's not too difficult to figure it out,” Rokuro points at a door. We enter and Kakashi lays Rin on the bed. I see a stack of diaper near the closet. I grab one and the wipes.
I see Kakashi has taken a step back, letting me do the work. I pull down Rin’s pants, and soon I am attacked by the horrid smell. How can something so foul some out of a small baby like her? I take a deep breath, and undo the diaper.
“Kakashi give me a wipe.”
I see the mess, and then I see Kakashi run out the room. I hear Rokuro and Eri laugh. Thanks for the help. Rin is smiling at me, oh she likes this too much. All of them. I wiper her and put the diaper on. It doesn’t look right, maybe I put it upside down. I take it off and try it another way, there now it looks right. I throw away the dirty diaper and wipes and carry Rin back into the living room. I see Kakashi standing near the door, getting a good whiff of fresh air.
“You were a big help Kakashi,” I say. I set Rin back in the crib and go over to the kitchen to wash my hands.
“I don’t know how you did that, but I almost fainted,” Kakashi says.
“I got used to the smell. Oh and Eri I think you should check if I did it right, I’m not confident in the diaper,” I tell her. After a bit of teasing Kakashi, Eri serves the food and we eat. Kakashi one of the most feared ninja in the Leaf couldn’t stomach the smell of a bad diaper. I couldn’t stop laughing for minutes. Later that night Rokuro brought out the sake, and Kakashi and him had a fun time drinking while I helped Eri get Rin to bed. Kakashi was bit out of it, when I finally decided to go home.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to help you. Rin is sleeping and Rokuro is asleep too,” Eri asks.
“No I’m fine. He’s not very drunk at all. He just needs someone to help him up the stairs, that is all,” I tell her. I wrap the scarf around Kakashi and help him zip his jacket.
“No, Its too hot Kiyoko,” He says and he tries to stop me from tucking the scarf into his jacket.
“It cold outside, see lets go,” I open the door and wave good bye to Eri. Immediately, I feel Kakashi get closer to me.
“You’re right. You are always right, you know everything Kiyoko. But I bet you, you don’t know one thing,” He says into my ear.
“And what is that?” I ask.
“How much I love you. I love you more than you can imagine. You can’t even imagine how much I love you. Its like trying to count all the stars before the sun comes out, it can’t be done. I can’t express the amount of my love for you,” Kakashi kisses my ear. I look around, we were the only ones walking down this street.
“If drinking makes you this way, maybe I should try it some time too. I love you Kakashi, and you don’t even know how much I love you either,” I tell him. He stops and puts his hands on his hips. I quietly laugh at his posture, he’s much more silly this way.
“Tell me. I want to know how much you love me,” He says like there is an answer to my amount.
“No, its impossible to find the amount,” I tell him. He stomps his feet like a little kid and sluggishly walks over to me.
“Then I’ll spend the rest of my life with you and try to figure how much you love me,” He says.
“I’d love that Kakashi,” I tell him. He smiles, and wraps both arms around me while we walk and make our way back home. The next morning Kakashi sleeps in, probably feeling the sake settle in. I take the time to leave a note on the kitchen table telling him I am with Kurenai, and I would be back later. I had to go finish the present. I bundle up and make my way to the address Kurenai gave me, it wasn’t hard to find, a simple apartment complex like our. I knock on her front door and she stood there smiling.
“I hope you haven’t been walking in the snow too long to get here. I made some hot chocolate for us,” She says and grabs my hat off of my head and sets it on the couch. I leave my things there, following her to the kitchen. It was the first time I have been in her house. It was small, but it was warmer this way.
I sip the sweet drink while Kurenai gets the pictures. I get my photo album that I bought and made. I decorates it with my own personal taste, Kurenai had pictures from his birthday party, and somehow she got one of us on New Years. I haven’t seen it yet but she said it was great.
“Here we go,” Kurenai sets the small bag on the table. I reach in grab a few pictures. I go through them one by one, in some Kakashi was smiling in others he wasn’t. In a few I looked like I was laughing so hard I might pee my pants. My favorite one was him blowing out his candles. I come across a couple pictures of us on New Years. One of us two hugging, you can see my kimono. I looked closer, I looked bigger in pictures rather than the mirror. In the other photo we were praying in front of the alter.
“Thank you Kurenai,” I tell her.
“If there is anything you ever need, always feel free to ask. I might ask for a few recipes to make dinner, so I’ll contact you soon,” She says. I nod, and gather the photos in the bag, and make my way back home. It was late in the morning, and it warmed a bit, I took off my hat, and put in my bag. I arrive and see Kakashi still hasn’t moved from where I left him. He snored away, I took the time to plug in all the photos I had in the slots, and hide it in my closet. I think in the next couple of days there will be a few more photos, so I want to wrap it at the last minute.
I made a quick simple lunch, not even the smell of food woke Kakashi up. Alright I was going to be rude and make him wake.
“Hey Kakashi wake up. It almost past noon,” I shake his shoulder. He groans, and moves himself to the other side of the bed. I grab his pillow from under his head, he grabs mine a pulls it over his own. I jump in him and hit him a few times with the pillow.
“Come on, get up. I made lunch, and I don’t want to eat all by myself. Plus tomorrow is christmas so we have to go shopping and get groceries for dinner.”
“Okay, I’ll get up. As long as I get some tea to get rid of this headache. I’m never going to drink with Rokuro again,” he says. I laugh, I don’t know if he remembers what he said last night.
“But I liked what you said to me last night. It was a very different side of you Kakashi,” I tease him.
“What did I say?” He asks as he splashes some water on his face.
“I’m not telling you. That is your punishment for making me practically carry you back home last night,” I tell him.
All morning and afternoon he pleaded for me to tell him, but I didn’t tell him. At least not now, it was fun to have the upper hand once and a while. I made him carry the heavy bags, he followed like a pleading puppy. That night before I fell asleep he whispered into the night, what did he say. I’ll tell him on christmas eve.
The morning of christmas I opened my eyes to see snow falling outside the window. I smile, hmm, what a perfect way to wake up.
“Will you tell me now?” I hear Kakashi whisper into my ear.
“Later, I promise to tell you later,” I tell him. That morning a make breakfast, and Eri comes over with Rin and Rokuro. I couldn’t see Rin under all the jackets and blankets. She sets Rin on the bed, while Rokuro tugs a large box in.
“What is this?”
“Didn’t Kakashi tell you. On christmas we wear our kimonos, I’m hear to help. We planned on having a little get together in my house. Kakashi already took the opportunity to invite your friends. Its a small surprise present from me, so get your beautiful red Kimono out and lets get ready.”
Eri helps me braid a few strands of hair before pinning them in a half updo. She told me how to apply a bit of eyeshadow and mascara. I helped her pin her hair in places she wanted. Rin made happy noises as she saw her mother begin to put her kimono on. Eri wore a beautiful green apple kimono with a yellow bow. She wore an under dress to keep her warm, I wish I had one. I’ll buy myself one later. I tie her bow in the back and pin it to her dress with a few clips. She helps me into the red kimono Kakashi got for me on my birthday. I apply a bit of lipstick Eri brought. Eri held Rin, they both let out a noise of excitement at the same time.
“Doesn’t Auntie Kiyoko look beautiful. Kakashi better not ruin her hair of her make up because I’ll be mad, right Rin. And you don’t want to see mom mad,” She tells Rin. I blush, Kakashi wouldn’t ruin her hard work, I wouldn't let him. Eri wrapped Rin back in her jackets and blankets.
“I’m going to go get the house ready. I’ll see you in a bit Kiyoko. Remember to bring your gifts, we’ll hand them out at my house,” She says. She slides the bedroom door open, and walks into the living room.
“That better not be sake Rokuro, oh so the hokage help me I will leave you in the snow,” I hear her say.
“No, its just tea. Here let me take Rin. I’ll see you in a few minutes Kakashi,” He says and I hear the front door close.
“Kiyoko are you decent?” He says as he knocks on the door.
“Ya, you can come in,” I tell him and put a few strands of hair behind my ear. Eri forgot to put this piece back. Kakashi slides the door open.
“Wo-. Kiyoko you look gorgeous. You look incredible, like a goddess,” He says as he takes my hand.
“You know all this praising won’t make me tell you what you said an sooner, but thank you,” I say and give him a kiss on the cheek, I giggle. I rub off the lipstick, and go to gather the presents I have ready.
“Hold on, we have to take a picture. Look over here,” he says. I smile and pose in front of the tree. He comes over and take one of us together. I had to get that one for our album. I tell Kakashi to help me grab the presents, while I go slip the pictures into the album. I put his present in a bag and stuff it with tissues. He carried the ones he can and I help him.
We walk in the snow, I was shaking by the time we make it to Eri’s house. Sakura opens the door before we knock, I rush in, putting the presents in a pile near the fireplace. I look around and see that all of the girls had their kimono on. Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Kurenai, and Tenten all looked very beautiful. I loved especially how Hinata has pinned her hair in a very beautiful bun. She was shy I could tell, on not having her hair to hide behind. All of their teams were here too. Even Yamato managed to get here.
“You look stunning as usual,” I see Guy come towards Kakashi and I.
“Thank you. It has been a while Guy how have you been?” I ask him. It has been months since I have spoken to many of the people in this house.
“I’ve been busy on missions with my team. I heard you aren’t doing so bad either, that’s great to hear,” he tells me. He excuses himself before he goes to talk to Lee, who needed help telling the story about a mission they went on to Shikamaru and Choji. They looked like they were going to doze off any minute. Eri comes to meet me with Rin in her arms. The kitchen table is loaded with food, I’m afraid that its legs will snap in two from all of the weight. Asuma for once doesn't have a cigarette in his mouth, probably because Eri didn’t let him around Rin.
Kurenai takes Rin from Eri, while Eri brought out a speaker and a couple microphone.
“We should do a bit of karaoke,” She tells and raises her hand in the air.
“I need to be a bit more drunk for that to happen,” Rokuro says. The room erupts in laughter. Sakura, Tenten, and Ino volunteer to go first. They sing along to songs I have never heard of but it was entertaining to watch them laugh over the miss of lyrics. But just like Rokuro said, he got a little tipsy and grabbed a mic. Yamato joined him along with Guy, they sang for hours. It was almost midnight, when Eri yanked the mics from their hands, Tenten had to drag her sensei to the couch.
“Its nice to have everyone here,” I say to Hinata. She sat besides me with a yellow kimono, it made her hair look darker, she was beautiful.
“I just wish Naruto was here. This is the first time we’ve gotten together, and it doesn’t feel right without Naruto,” She says and takes a drink of her tea. I smile.
“Hinata, do you like Naruto?” I say a little more quietly. She jumps at the sudden question, and I see her fidget with her feet.
“He is always doing his best not for himself but for everyone around him. Even though he had a rough childhood, he never looked down on us, he always looks for the best in the villagers. He cares and doesn’t get discouraged. Naruto is a true ninja, he never goes back on his word, and he won’t let others tell him what he can and can’t do. He opened my eyes, when all I saw was my failures and restrictions. I was close to taking wrong paths many times, but he showed me that if I try hard enough I can do anything. Without him I think I won’t be as strong as I am now,” She tells me.
I wrap my arm around her, she does love him, she’s just too shy to say it. It was present time, and I handed the present I got for Sakura, Sai, Hinata, Kiba, Ino, Eri, Rin, and Kurenai. I got my little goddaughter some warm clothes, and a few hair pins for when she began to get longer hair. I gave Kurenai some seeds for her garden, she was telling me the other day about her dream garden that she wanted to grow in the spring. Eri needed a few kitchen utensils so I bought her those. I bought Sai a few canvases and paintbrushes. I wanted to see more of his great artwork. I gave Sakura a few beauty cosmetics that she was looking at the last time we went shopping together. Kiba received my present with joy, it was a chew toy for Akamaru. Ino and Sakura compared their presents, they were so much alike, but different.
It was harder to find something Hinata would enjoy or needed. Hyuga, her last name meant sunflower, so I bought her a bag with a sunflower print. It was very adorable, and since she always cooked lunch, she could carry it in that bag.
I saw Kakashi smiling in the back, watching everyone give their presents and receive. Kurenai was taking pictures.
“This is great,” I say when I reach Kakashi. He smiles and pull me alongside of him.
“ya it is great to see everyone here. Wish Sasuke and Naruto were here to enjoy it. I’m sure Master Jiraiya gave him little something for christmas.”
I nod. He was safe, and I’m sure he was having an adventurous day.
“Are you going to tell me, what I said the other day, or are you going to make me wait?” Kakashi says.
“Should I embarrass you in front of everyone?”
“No, if its bad don’t. I think I can wait,” He quickly says.
“No, I don’t want to make you wait. I’ll tell you after I give you this,” I pull the bag from behind me and give it to him. He smiles and takes the bag from my hands. I watch his face as he takes it out. He opens the front page, and he looks at the pictures.
“Its not full, but we can always fill more with more pictures.”
He flips the pages, looking from one picture to the other. I could tell he likes it because he was smiling under the mask. He flips to the last page and sees the picture we taken hours before.
“This is great, so I can remember everything we did together. I love it,” Kakashi says and brings me into a hug.
“I also have a present for you,” Kakashi says, and pulls a small bow from his jacket. He hands it to me, and I take the velvet box into my hand.
“No way. Kakashi-sensei are you going to propose to her?” I hear Ino say out loud.
I can feel my heart race, isn’t that too soon. I open the box and see not a ring but a small chark. A lantern charm, it was a small replica of the lantern festival. I felt relieved that it wasn’t a ring, but this was so thoughtful. I take my necklace off and slip the lantern charm in.
“Just like all these pictures remind me of our memories. I thought that a lantern would remind you of the first time we kissed,” Kakashi whispers into my ear so no one else can hear. I blush, it would remind me of the first time his soft lips pressed against mine. He boldly tugs me to him, and I feel his lips press onto mine. I hear the room whistle and clap. I didn’t know if Kakashi had a bit to drink, but he bravely kissed me in front of our friends. He slips his mask back and smiles down at me. I love this man.
“Do you want to know what you said now?”
“Yes, I can’t embarrass myself anymore than I just did.”
“You said that you would spend the rest of your life besides me and find out how much I love you,” I tell him. I see his face turn red.
“So that was it? I remember that, I said it in all soberness. I wasn’t that drunk Kiyoko,” He says. My heart pounds, so he meant it. He wants to spend the rest of his life besides me.
“I don’t mind,” He tells me. He won’t mind waking up next to me for the rest of my life, and i wouldn’t mind dragging his drunk ass back home for the rest of my life either.
Christmas ended as soon as it arrived, and three days after I was summoned to the Shikkotsu Forest once again. I knew what it meant, today I was going to begin Sage art training.
“Looks like you are refreshed and rested, Kiyoko. Are you ready to become a sage?” Sage Moriko asked me she sees me walk to the home tree. I nod, I mean how hard can sage art be?
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Chapter notes: Hey guys! This chapter is full of everything. A bit of an action filler, I guess I would describe it. Its going to be the beginning of another chapter for Kiyoko. I hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter end notes: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you guys think!
Until next chapter! Stay beautiful. ;)